Happy New Year, folks!

So. I have decided to give this a whirl. I’d like this to act as a digital journal of sorts but also I place to throw some creative ideas and share the things I’m working on. To start this off, I figured I’d dive into 2019 with my new years resolutions and a few thoughts on last night.

Last night I hosted a fun little NYE party in my apartment. The first official party to have been hosted since I moved back to Hoboken, which was really fun and exciting. We only broke three champagne glasses so I think we can consider it a success. It was definitely the best NYE I’ve had in the last few years, by far. In previous years I always ended up in places I didn’t really want to be, in a room of a bunch of people that didn’t particularly care about me and I didn’t particularly care for them. This year, set the tables back and was such a wonderful time. We were all laughing and drinking and having an old fashioned good time the entire night and ended up with 25 or so people at midnight. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the year. My only issue with the whole thing was my lovely decision to only drink a bottle of wine the entire night and woke up with an equally as lovely headache this morning. All and all, wonderful time and probably worth the headache.

Today, despite waking up with a headache I’m pretty thrilled. It’s a new year and I’m really motivated to make it a great one. I have a lot of plans this year and I lot of goals. In previous years I’ve had more lofty idea-based goals on changing my perspective and thinking but this year I’m looking at redirecting my life in a bunch of dynamic ways.

I put a lot of thought into my resolutions this year, probably inspired by social media, but I think thats a really positive thing. So, thanks to that, and specifically a friend I went to school with, my resolutions are split up into several categories. They include, Physical & Body, Mental, Career, Community, Finance, Social & Friendships, Travel, Fun and my Overall goals.

My biggest overall goals are to set monthly meetings with myself to check in on my progress with all of my goals, but the other two overarching things are to follow through and cook more. Those two play into everything else I’m planning this year. I really want to pay more attention to how/when I’m feeding myself and what I’m putting into my body and I want to follow through on things I want to do and things I tell people I’m going to do, no excuses. These both kind of play into my Physical goal.

Physical:

Get into the best shape of my life

Try a bunch of new workout classes / activities ( at least 1 new one a month)

Community:

Volunteer in some way 3 times this year

Mental:

Read 12 books this year

Practice positive affirmations (in the good and bad moments)

Give meditation and yoga a serious shot

Career:

Be a positive voice and energy in any workplace I’m in and seek out opportunities to be more of a dynamic leader on the team. (“be responsible for the energy you bring into a room”)

Seek out more learning opportunities & take a class

Continue to create things and DREAM BIG!!!

Social & Friendships:

Say “no,” more. Choose yourself and take the time you need.

Be more open to new people. Seek out someone you want to get to know better once a month.(personal or professional)

Less toxic people, behaviors, environments, and conversations

Be a better friend

Travel:

Iceland, Italy, Chile, UK

See more of the US (like visiting Kelly and Zach and road-tripping with Jenna!)

Finance:

Increase your savings account & put more money every month towards it

Make a more serious budget & stick to it!

Work towards paying off your student loans

Fun:

See more broadway shows

Host more dinner parties & bring people together

This might seem like a lot, and pretty much everyone tells you not to overwhelm yourself with too many things, but I feel like all of these are necessary and achievable goals this year and I’m very motivated to reach them. I know my attitude might change, and I’m open to revising them as time goes on, but I’m aiming high to start.

On top of this, I’m trying to make all of this a bit more bite size and I’m working on breaking down into some monthly goals to help me achieve the overarching ones. Including doing dry January (no alcohol) and I’m challenging myself to not spend any money on coffee this month, only drinking tea at home and at work. The coffee thing is a big deal for me. I love the experience of going to a coffee shop and getting out and about in the mornings, but I really want to save those extra dollars this month and see how it goes.

I’m ALSO trying to meal prep and cook the majority of my lunches and dinners this month. I’m allowing myself 2 lunches out this month and 3 dinners, because they tend to be social occasions, but I’m trying to find more interesting ways to be social with my friends that doesn’t involve dinner and drinks.

Oh! And I’m also participating in Mel Robbins “Mindset Reset” 35-day challenge, which is great so far and has really helped me think about what I want out of this coming year and has me thinking about what I want 5 and 10 years from now.

This was a lot for one post, but maybe I’ll expand more on those individual categories in the future. I hope you set some great resolutions for yourself this year! Here we go!